In the woods, the corpses of the men in black lay scattered, covered in blood, and the thick stench of blood filled the air. The old woman gripped Chang Lili's sleeve tightly, her face filled with fear.
Chang Lili swallowed hard. Although she was a worldly person, the scene before her was truly bloody.
"It's alright, Grandma." She stared nervously at the edge of the woods.
The surroundings were quiet, and no more men in black entered the woods for a while, but the group still dared not relax their vigilance.
After a while, the outline of a person appeared vaguely at the edge of the woods. All three of them tensed up and pointed the crossbow at that direction without saying a word.
A pleading voice came: "No, no! It's me! Don't hurt our own people!"
It was Zhou Lue's voice. Hearing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Jiang Yingxue followed Zhou Lue into the woods. Seeing the corpses scattered all over the ground, she, still a young girl, followed closely behind Zhou Lue, her eyes filled with fear.
"There are no more men in black outside. These people are really ruthless!" Zhou Lue said, taking a deep breath.
Zhang Ziqing and the drunkard uncle walked towards Chang Lili. Zhou Lue also walked up to them, and only then did Chang Lili see that there was a bloody wound on Zhou Lue's arm.
"Senior, you're injured. We need to treat it quickly," Chang Lili said anxiously.
Jiang Yingxue's expression turned strange upon hearing this, and she said guiltily, "You could have easily dodged it. Even if I had taken that blow, I wouldn't have been injured this badly."
Even though his wound was still bleeding, Zhou Lue grinned and said, "Yes, yes, sigh, it's because I'm old and didn't handle it well. But how could I let you get hurt, little miss? I'm tough and thick-skinned, a little injury is nothing to me!"
Jiang Yingxue frowned and stomped her foot angrily: "How dare you! I don't want to owe you a favor!"
With that, she turned and left, her steps light as the wind.
Chang Lili didn't understand the situation, but seeing Jiang Yingxue's reaction, she felt that Jiang Yingxue really had the temper of a spoiled young lady.
“These people came for me. I’m sorry I dragged you into this,” Chang Lili said with a guilty look on her face. “Um, I’ll go find some medicine and bandages.”
She had just taken a step when she heard Zhou Lue's voice, unusually serious: "Someone's coming, and he's a master."
Chang Lili's heart tightened, and she subconsciously asked, "Is he taller than you?"
Although she couldn't see clearly, Chang Lili was certain. Zhou rolled his eyes at her and said, "Of course not."
Sure enough, a short while later, someone darted into the woods with lightning speed. Zhang Ziqing reacted the fastest. The crossbow cart that Chang Lili had just used was not yet locked. He quickly reached for it, aimed at the figure, and fired the crossbow without hesitation.
The arrow tore through the air and shot straight toward the man's chest. Just as it was about to hit him, the man swayed and dodged it.
Everyone was stunned. Zhang Ziqing remained calm and was about to shoot a second arrow, but Chang Lili found the figure somewhat familiar. She wanted to stop Zhang Ziqing, but then she heard the man's deep voice, which was filled with internal energy, say: "It is me, Meng Yuxiu."
Hearing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Chang Lili's eyes lit up. The thin sweat on her forehead was cooled by the evening breeze. Meng Yuxiu had already rushed over at a fast enough speed, but she still felt it wasn't fast enough. She lifted her foot and ran towards him.
"Wait for me to get there." Meng Yuxiu frowned as he looked at the corpse at his feet and said in a deep voice.
Upon hearing this, Chang Lili obediently stood still, looking at Meng Yuxiu with anticipation.
As soon as Meng Yuxiu came in front of her, she pounced on him and hugged him tightly.
The people standing next to the crossbow cart were stunned. Jiang Yingxue brought over some medicine and was giving it to Zhou Lue when she saw this scene. The small white porcelain bottle in her hand trembled, and a lot of the powder spilled onto the ground.
Coming to their senses, everyone looked away, their faces showing embarrassment. Only Zhou Lue looked on with amusement, clicking his tongue twice and saying, "The people who need to clean up this mess are here. Let's go back."
The group then headed out of the woods. Before leaving, the old woman couldn't help but turn back and look at Chang Lili and Meng Yuxiu a few more times. Meng Yuxiu reached out and hugged Chang Lili.
She sighed, suddenly wondering if this was a tragic fate.
“It’s alright now,” Meng Yuxiu patted Chang Lili on the back. “I didn’t expect them to track us here so quickly. It was my negligence that put you in such danger. I’ve strengthened the defenses, and now not even a fly can get in.”
Chang Lili nodded, completely relaxed, and became as happy as a child.
"Is he Xiao Shu'er's man?" Chang Lili asked, releasing Meng Yuxiu.
Meng Yuxiu frowned, looking somewhat troubled, and said, "We captured a few survivors, but they all committed suicide by poison. They were suicide soldiers."
Chang Lili didn't know much about assassins, but she still felt a little scared after hearing it.
Soon a group of people rushed into the forest, and Chang Lili exclaimed in surprise, "Someone's coming!"
Meng Yuxiu took her hand and comforted her, "It's alright, they're just people who came to clean up the corpses."
After escorting Chang Lili back to the cabin, Meng Yuxiu had no choice but to leave. Before departing, he told Chang Lili not to worry and assured her that such a thing would not happen again.
Chang Lili stood in front of the wooden house and watched Meng Yuxiu leave until he was out of sight before she walked back inside.
When she woke up the next day, she found that the corpses and even the bloodstains in the forest had completely disappeared, as if nothing had happened the night before, and she could not smell any blood at all.
Once Meng Yuxiu left the restricted area, he personally checked the surrounding defenses to make sure there were no oversights before leaving.
Ke Shou followed closely behind him, his eyes deep and his face shrouded in coldness. He asked in a chilling voice, "Have those people been cured of the poison?"
“No, some people died on the spot, and those who were still clinging to life were beyond saving,” Ke Shou said, bowing his head.
Meng Yuxiu frowned, closed his eyes and pondered for a while before saying, "Continue to investigate their background and pay attention to the movements in the palace. Since someone has discovered the location of the Light Machine Department, strengthen the defense, set up more secret guards, and simply lure them into a trap."
Chang Lili walked through the woods, along the path she had traversed many times before. She looked up into the woods and searched for a long time before finally finding the repeating crossbow carts, which were still there, though locked, some distance from the path.
Upon reaching a clearing in the woods, they found that, as usual, Zhang Ziqing and Jiang Yingxue were at a long table under a tree, the drunkard was sitting on the ground, and Zhou Lue, with a bandage on his arm, was actually drinking with the drunkard.
Seeing Zhang Ziqing pondering over the mechanical arms and legs, Chang Lili had a sudden inspiration and rushed over, saying, "I have an idea. I think we could make the parts of these legs and legs even smaller. Wouldn't it be more flexible if they were more detailed?"
Zhang Ziqing and Jiang Yingxue both looked at her, seemingly lost in thought.
"Maybe we can give it a try," Zhang Ziqing said.
Suddenly, a deep, weathered voice came: "Don't do that."
Chang Lili blinked and turned to look at the source of the sound. What she saw was still a wine jar that had been turned upside down.
The drunkard took a big gulp of wine and looked at her, making her certain that the words came from his mouth.
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